Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Twist

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, then you know that I like using ingredients that I’ve had leftover. I was also in the mood to make cookies with all of the talk about them on other blogs for the holidays. Therefore, I made whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. The twist in these cookies is the whole wheat flour, along with cinnamon-sugar and semi-sweet baker’s chocolate—all ingredients I had leftover from previous baking adventures. (Including, but not limited to, doughnuts and corn-stalk rolls.)

All week long, I’ve been eating the dough out of the fridge, and just baked off a few today. Both ways of consuming the dough are really great, but of course you have to wait longer for the baked ones. :)

I used a stone-ground whole wheat flour here and absolutely loved the texture, but you can use any kind of whole wheat flour that you like, including the white whole wheat flour that is available in most supermarkets.

Resist the temptation to use semi-sweet chips–the combination of the whole wheat flour and bittersweet chocolate is dynamite. If you use table salt instead of kosher, use roughly half the amount of salt.

The original recipe says that you can bake the cookies right away, but I found that I much preferred the texture and flavor when the dough was chilled before baking, so I’m including it here. I made my cookies a bit smaller, using a 2 tablespoon scoop, and obviously got a higher yield than the original recipe yield of 20 cookies, but the baking time was the same.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat it to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer), beat together the butter and sugars, just to blend. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer still on low, gradually beat in the flour mixture to the bowl, just until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips on low speed.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Chill for about 1 hour (at this point, you can store the chilled dough balls in an airtight container and they will keep for 1 week).

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned. Let cool for several minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.